Oh, for goodness' sake. Even the Religious Policeman in Saudi Arabia is catblogging.

Here's a report on local crops from the Natchez Democrat. So I imagine the local farmers are saying more stridently about the same thing Lyman is, and we won't print that here, either.

Here is the recipe for Lyman's Seafood Gumbo. (Note: This recipe can be halved. As is, it serves about 12 as an entree.)

This is not rocket science, but it helps to have that kind of budget. First go shopping:

Veggies

2 ½ cups chopped onion
1 medium onion quartered
2 cups chopped bell pepper
2 cups chopped celery
4 stalks celery quartered
4 tbs minced garlic
1 pound cut okra
1 can original diced Rotel
2 14 ½ oz. cans diced tomatoes

Seafood

4 pounds headless shrimp, shells on
1 pound crab meat, can use claw meat
4-6 gumbo crabs, usually found frozen in many stores, such as Wal-Mart
2 quarts oysters

Seasonings

6 bay leaves
½ ts white pepper
½ ts black pepper
½ ts red pepper, we use twice as much of these 3 peppers, don’t do it the first time
2 tbs Cajun seasoning, such as Tony Chachere’s

Roux

½ cup flour
½ cup vegetable oil

Other

white rice
gumbo file’

Note: It is important to follow these steps in the order given as some things need to be prepared in advance and available immediately as they are needed.

To make stock: Peel shrimp reserving shells. Refrigerate shrimp until needed. Place shells in 6 qt pot. Strain oyster liquid into the pot with shrimp shells. Refrigerate oysters until needed. Remove legs and all small claws from gumbo crabs and add to shrimp shells. Look at bottom of gumbo crabs for a flap. Remove and discard if present. Refrigerate crabs and any large claws you want in gumbo until needed. Add quartered onion and celery to pot. Add water to cover shells, crab legs, and vegetables by two inches. Simmer stock for 1 hour. Keep warm.

Chop the vegetables: Chop the onions, bell pepper and celery. Mix together, cover and set aside. Mince the garlic (I use store bought minced) and set aside.

To make roux: Heat oil over medium-high heat in heavy pot at least 7 qts in size, preferably cast iron. When oil is hot slowly sprinkle in the flour, stirring constantly with a flat ended spoon, wooden will do. Continue mixing stirring constantly. The mixture will foam slightly for several minutes. Cook stirring constantly until roux is the color of peanut butter. To judge your temperature during cooking, stop stirring and the mixture should start simmering within 2 or 3 seconds. If it doesn’t, increase your heat slightly. Be careful changing your heat, especially with cast iron as it takes several minutes to change.

To assemble gumbo: When roux is ready immediately add chopped onions, bell pepper and celery. Stir until the roux is thoroughly incorporated with the veggies, making sure no roux is stuck to pot. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the veggies are completely wilted. This should be done at a medium-high simmer and will probably take 30-40 minutes. You want most of the water cooked off, but not all.

When veggies are wilted add Rotel tomatoes, diced tomatoes, minced garlic, bay leaves, gumbo crabs and any claws, and 2 cups of the seafood stock. Add white, black, and red peppers. Add Cajun seasoning. Bring to a simmer and simmer 1 hour stirring every 15 minutes or so. Make sure to scrape bottom of pot. It should have the thickness of a hardy soup. If need be, add more stock along.

Take shrimp and oysters out of refrigerator and set aside to warm up some.

Add crab meat and okra. Simmer 30 minutes or until okra is tender. Cook rice.

When okra is tender, add shrimp, bring to a simmer and cook until shrimp are done, about 5 minutes after they start simmering.

When shrimp are done, add oysters, bring to a simmer and cook just until the oysters start to curl around the edges. Turn heat to low and move pot partially off the burner.

To serve: Place a small amount of rice in bottom of a bowl and cover with gumbo. Some like more rice and less gumbo. What ever you like. Have the gumbo file’ available at the table to be sprinkled on top of gumbo. Caution: Some people don’t like the file’. If you have never had it, sprinkle a small amount on the edge of your bowl and give a taste.

To reheat: Slowly warm all or part of gumbo. Do not let it come to a simmer.

Enjoy. If you have questions, email Lyman at lymangore at bellsouth.net.

One more thing before I post Lyman's Seafood Gumbo recipe. How do people whose diets forbid them to eat bacon celebrate the new tomato crop without eating bacon and tomato sandwiches?

J-Birds has a New York Times story up about Peregrine falcons learning to fly in urban environments. And look around the J-Birds site. Craig has several pictures posted for bird-lovers.

We can barely see across the street. According to Lyman's weather station it is raining at the rate of 6.86 inches an hour at this moment. In the last four minutes it has rained .3 inch.

UPDATE: After nine minutes, we're up to .5 inch. At this moment, rainfall rate is 9.29 inches per hour.

There's 1 inch after half an hour. It's slacked off now, with promises for more later.

I wonder what the farmers are saying? I know what Lyman is saying. We won't print that here.

Lucy doesn't intimidate easily. Lyman doesn't give her delicate portions of food to nibble. He brings her half a cantaloupe, a 3-inch wedge of watermelon, half a spaghetti squash. They are often the same size she is. She eats as much or little as she pleases.

We finish up after her. Unlike a cat or dog, we know where she has been.

Lucy is about fed up with the overcast weather. She sits on top of her cage and fusses at the clouds.

Lyman is concerned about the 40 tomato plants and the okra plants in the garden that are doing not a thing without sun. "The grass is growing and the garden is not," he complains.

I have three books from the library.

Summer jobs, huh?

I only had one of any duration. I was a cashier at a True Value hardware store in North Dallas in 1974, saving money for my first year of college.

Completely uneventful except for the day that Ross Perot drove up in a beat-up old Pontiac or somesuch and bought a trap assembly for a sink. My sole brush with great wealth.

Other summers I took classes.

I have just finished Mr. Timothy by Louis Bayard.

A lilting pleasure, it was.

There were a dozen other things I should be doing, but this week has been muffled, dark and rainy. Why break that spell?

Here is a funny parrot story from J-Birds.

When Lucy is tired, she wants us to know it. She opens her beak in a large, loud yawn - sometimes more than one. When she is in the mood to show off, if we remark on each yawn, she'll continue the motions, if not the sounds, until we stop. Funny birds.

Pretty as she is, living with Lucy is better represented by sounds than pictures.

Glenda's son is now engaged to a good-looking nurse from Detroit.

He hid the ring in the grass at a picnic. "Look at what I found!"

Though Edward is not tall, he has always liked and played basketball well. "Mom, she's the first girl I ever met who can beat me at basketball." She played for Wayne State.

Here's my constructive suggestion for a title for Clinton's autobiography:

Interstate 30 to International Diplomacy: My Trip

Seems my post below about feeding Big Daddy at Lake Concordia has brought the watchband vendors up top. Good for the change. Come back.

I seldom wear a watch unless I am traveling. I have owned a Hamilton, a Timex, and two Seikos in the past 20 years. I have lost them all. They all fell off my wrist without my noticing. Two of them were given to me by gentleman friends -- the Hamilton and one Seiko. Time was up, I suppose.

Now I wear $9 watches from Walgreen's or Fred's.

I am going to use profanity in a post. What the hell are editors thinking? I hate these titles. "My Life" for a presidential memoir. His wife's was "Living History". Lucy could have written those books.

UPDATE: Of course, the publishers know that these books will sell on the authors' names. They could have been titled "c" and "v" for all the difference that will make in sales.

Here is a New York Times review of President Clinton's memoir.

Lyman says, "950 pages of Bill Clinton? That would be a good criminal sentence."

I don't hate Bill Clinton, but I do hate sloppy writing. Except my own, of course.

UPDATE: In another NYT review, Larry McMurtry likes it.

The celebration at Lyman's brother's house was as good as could be. He has built a pier that extends onto the lake with a covered 30' by 30' platform. There are requisite ceiling fans and lights, and a cooking center with a small refrigerator -- the best party room you can imagine. Four huge floor fans blew away the heat.

All 12 of us were in good humor and the food was delicious. The ice cream drew raves. I was honest. I followed the recipe for old-fashioned vanilla from the book that came with the Rival electric freezer. Our kids are all too old to sit on a crank model. Besides, they weren't invited.

Happy Father's Day to you, too.

Today I shall make a gallon of vanilla ice cream to take to Lake Concordia.

Lyman's brother lives on the lake. He and his wife have invited us and Lyman's sister and her husband to a fish fry to celebrate Father's Day.

My father died on July 8, 1990. Lyman's father turned 85 on May 30 of this year.

Poor brother. When my sister-in-law called to invite us, she set suppertime at 5:30 or later, when the weather cools down. When my father-in-law stopped in for a barbecued rib yesterday evening, he said "Lyman, you need to help Brent cook the fish." "What time do I need to be there?" "Oh, we'll eat about 4 or 4:30."

So much good food. So little time.

UPDATE: Big Daddy just stopped by. "Oh, I'm going to give Girl time to get dressed. We'll go to Brent's at about 2." Poor Brent.

I often read Jeff Jarvis. In this post he mentions "blogcards". Now, that's an idea that's overdue for the un-anonymous members of the Axis of Weevil.